A digital divide between north and south of Mediterranean sea: A neo-institutional explanation

Focusing on institutional explanations we try to apprehend the digital divide phenomena. We show that competition measured by mobile phone number of operators is positively and significantly correlated to mobile phone diffusion. We always show that other institutional factors like (independent) regulation, privatization (taken twice) and the sequence of reforms had played a major role in the mobile phone diffusion. Particularly we find that reform sequency have an elevated coefficient demonstrating the powerful role played by this action to give a response to the digital divide phenomena particularly in the telephony field.Fracture numérique, Niveau de croissance, néo-institutionalisme

Développement économique, ajustement et qualité de l'environnement: le cas de la Tunisie

Neither the frontiers nor the exact content of a macroeconomic theory of environment are well established until today. The recent tentative in the field of the formalization of the existing links between the economical development and the quality of the environment allowed to put some interesting research projects in yard. One of the most known approaches is probably the study of, what is known nowadays as the phenomenon of the Kuznets’ U shaped curve. Our objective, in this paper, is to present and analyse this phenomenon in the general setting, then to try to apply it empirically to the case of one small open underdeveloped economy (Tunisia) where the environmental question is prioritised politically and economically

Energy Consumption, Economic Growth and CO2 Emissions in Middle East and North African Countries

This article extends the recent findings of Liu (2005), Ang (2007), Apergis et al. (2009) and Payne (2010) by implementing recent bootstrap panel unit root tests and cointegration techniques to investigate the relationship between carbon dioxide emissions, energy consumption, and real GDP for 12 Middle East and North African Countries (MENA) over the period 1981–2005. Our results show that in the long-run energy consumption has a positive significant impact on CO2 emissions. More interestingly, we show that real GDP exhibits a quadratic relationship with CO2 emissions for the region as a whole. However, although the estimated long-run coefficients of income and its square satisfy the EKC hypothesis in most studied countries, the turning points are very low in some cases and very high in other cases, hence providing poor evidence in support of the EKC hypothesis. Thus, our findings suggest that not all MENA countries need to sacrifice economic growth to decrease their emission levels as they may achieve CO2 emissions reduction via energy conservation without negative long-run effects on economic growth.Environmental Kuznets Curve, carbon dioxide emissions, energy consumption, growth

ICT contribution to growth; the case of tunisia

The aim of this paper is to examine the impact of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) on the growth of developping countries and especially on the Tunisian economy. The first part of the article summerizes the relationship between growth, productivity and ICT. We show that under some necessary conditions ICT may boost the growth in the developping countries. In the second part of the article, we estimate the contribution of ICT to the growth of Tunisia due to ICT diffusion and adoption. We compare our econometric estimation to the results obtained in France and United States.croissance économique, TIC, productivité, développement économique, Tunisie.

Regional disparities and ICTs diffusion in Tunisia

The aim of this article consists in showing in what the emergence of new generation of information and communication technologies can be a worsening factor of imbalances between urban zones and rural zones and contribute to a thickening of the urban zones. Contrary to presupposed theoretical praising the capacity of these technologies to rebalance the development and to reverse the location of economic agents with their location. We will show in what these technologies could lead to a greater urban concentration in the less developed Countries (LDC’s). Indeed, four complementary explanatory factors are explained and illustrated in the case of Tunisia. The territorial dynamics engaged by the concentration of industries in the cities finds a second breath with the ICT.disparités spatiales, fracture numérique, Technologies de l’information et de la communication, Exode rural, localisation spatiale.

Usage capacities of ICTs in emergent economies

This contribution to the study of the factors’ allocation modes of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) by firms of emerging economies gets over the dual approach concentrated on the lack of uses of equipment and on their consequences. Authors focus on the dynamics of use, as opposed to the dynamics of adoption. The main assumption of this contribution is that the differentials of competitiveness related to ICT are less dependant on the level of the investments than on the level of their use. This approach always introduces notions like individual learning, cooperation dynamics, general purpose technologies, information and coordination levels.Capacité d’usage, capacité d’absorption, technologies de l’information et de la communication, innovation organisationnelle, technologies génériques, développement économique

Is there any NSI governance in MENA region

This article summarizes observations on the technological and innovation level of four Mediterranean countries (Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia). Although these concepts are still controversial, we try to examine the specific issue of the governance of innovation policies. This approach is most adapted to countries where the “national system of innovation” concept seems not to apply. Our findings show that even though a real political will has been raised on innovation by the governments, the difficulties remain on many key aspects: (1) State policies have served mainly to increase public research and the recent efforts to define the contours of an innovation policy have had little if no impact on the economy; (2) we suggest this is due to the fact that State policies oriented to promote innovation are badly accepted by other economic actors (due to a “top-down” approach that prevails in all four countries); (3) innovation policies seem hesitant and discontinuous and the voluntarism is rather of circumstances (too many changes of the administration with the governmental changes in Tunisia and Morocco, continuous changes of personal in charge in Jordan, changes in the references framework in Egypt); (4) scientific research is real in these countries and is based on individuals’ efforts, and innovation is developing in enterprises that have little knowledge of policies that are supposed to be oriented to tem. We conclude that the “world of innovation” is growing, even when the State seems to play a predominant role it has little impact and a low efficiency.governance, innovation policies, public research, world of innovation, institutions, R&D, Maghreb, Machreq

Développement économique, ajustement et qualité de l'environnement: le cas de la Tunisie

Neither the frontiers nor the exact content of a macroeconomic theory of environment are well established until today. The recent tentative in the field of the formalization of the existing links between the economical development and the quality of the environment allowed to put some interesting research projects in yard. One of the most known approaches is probably the study of, what is known nowadays as the phenomenon of the Kuznets’ U shaped curve. Our objective, in this paper, is to present and analyse this phenomenon in the general setting, then to try to apply it empirically to the case of one small open underdeveloped economy (Tunisia) where the environmental question is prioritised politically and economically

La fracture numérique Nord-Sud de la méditerranée; une explication néo-institutionnelle

Focusing on institutional explanations we try to apprehend the digital divide phenomena. We show that competition measured by mobile phone number of operators is positively and significantly correlated to mobile phone diffusion. We always show that other institutional factors like (independent) regulation, privatization (taken twice) and the sequence of reforms had played a major role in the mobile phone diffusion. Particularly we find that reform sequency have an elevated coefficient demonstrating the powerful role played by this action to give a response to the digital divide phenomena particularly in the telephony field